A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

Mark Herring on Inauguration Day

I happened upon the image above and too me it underscores just how different the next four years will be in Virginia with Terry McAuliffe, Ralph Northam and Mark Herring holding the highest statewide offices.  Under today's Republican Party of Virginia one is only a "true citizen" or "true American" if one is a white conservative Christian.  Obviously, the children in the photo would not qualify as true Virginians - one need only recall George Allen's "Macaca" remark to realize the sick nature of the Virginia GOP.  The boyfriend and I are honored that we supported these men and that we hosted an event in our home for Mark Herring.

Washington Post: Kaine Leads Over Allen 51% to 44%

Besides intensely hoping that Barack Obama prevails over Mitt"I'm A Liar" Romney on November 6th, I very much want to see my former classmate, George Allen, go down to defeat to Democrat Tim Kaine.  As noted before, George Allen's plan for America has changed little since he was first elected to the U.S. Senate 12 years ago even though the world and America's circumstances have changed markedly during the intervening years.  Allen still believes in large tax cuts for the wealthy, drastic cuts to social programs, blind fealty to Christianist extremists, and a subtle form of racism that is far too prominent in the Republican Party of Virginia.  In sharp contrast Tim Kaine - who I also know personally - understands that pushing recycled versions of failed GOP policies doesn't serve either Virginia's or the nation's best interests.  Here are highlights from the Washington Post on Kaine's continued lead in the polls over George "Macaca" Allen:

Timothy M. Kaine enters the final days of Virginia’s U.S. Senate contest with a clear advantage over George Allen, a new Washington Post poll shows, keeping an edge despite a tightening presidential race and an avalanche of outside spending against the Democrat.

Kaine (D) leads fellow former governor Allen (R) among likely Virginia voters, 51 to 44 percent, nearly unchanged from the 51 to 43 margin the Democrat enjoyed in the Washington Post’s mid-September poll. While that survey showed the Senate race mirroring the presidential — Kaine and President Obama held identical 8-point leads — Kaine is now in a stronger position than his party’s standard-bearer.

The two men have raised nearly $30 million combined, and more than $40 million has been poured into the race by outside groups — the most of any non-presidential race in the country, according to the Center for Responsive Politics — with the majority coming from Allen’s allies.

Kaine’s lead is fueled by a continued strong showing among women voters and voters in the Northern Virginia suburbs closest to the District, and comes despite growing advantages for Allen among whites and seniors. Kaine enjoys a 12-point edge on the question of which man would do a better job working with the other party on Capitol Hill — a focal point of Kaine’s message.

59 percent of likely voters say Obama was not a factor either way in their choice for Senate, while 25 percent say they would use their Senate vote to express support for the president and 13 percent say they wanted to express opposition.

Kaine has a seven-point lead on the question of which man better understands the economic problems of Virginians, and also has a 12-point advantage on which candidate is “the more friendly and likable person.”

Overall, Kaine is viewed favorably by 57 percent of likely voters and unfavorably by 33 percent. Allen’s rating is 50 percent favorable, 37 percent unfavorable.

 

The gender gap in the race continues to widen, with Kaine leading among women by 18 points and Allen holding a narrow four-point edge with men. Allen has the backing of 56 percent of white likely voters, while Kaine is supported by 77 percent of non-whites, including 86 percent of African Americans.

How Virginia Republicans Are Working to Elect Tim Kaine

Increasingly, today's Republicans seem to live in a bubble that keeps them from living in the same world as the rest of us.  Such is particularly the case in Virginia where the Republican Party of Virginia and GOP members of the General Assembly grovel and do the bidding of Victoria Cobb at The Family Foundation as if she were some sort of controlling dominatrix.   As a piece in the New York Times notes, perhaps such servile behavior and allegiance to some of the most extreme elements in Virginia may be about to bite the Virginia GOP in the ass as their far right batshitery helps elect Tim Kaine and defeat George Allen.  What's also telling is that Allen - a former law school classmate of mine - in typical behavior for him hasn't bothered to educate himself as to what some of The Family Foundation backed laws and regulations translate to in reality.  Here some highlights from the Times piece:

Last December, toward the end of an early debate between the Senate candidates in Virginia, George Allen was clearly ill at ease.  .  .  .  . Kaine was in the midst of attacking proposed federal legislation of Allen’s, which declares that life begins at conception. Kaine pointed out that it would make many forms of contraception illegal:

The way a birth control pill works is often to stop a fertilized egg’s embryo from implanting in a woman’s uterus.

Allen’s “personhood” legislation, Kaine said, would

criminalize women’s right to make their own reproductive decisions. That is an intrusive, big government way of coming at a problem that is just exactly the kind of problem that government really can’t solve and shouldn’t be trying to solve.

Kaine’s line of argument appeared to catch Allen off guard.  .  .  .  .   The moderator intervened: “About the contraception question, could you tell us how do you think birth control pills and intrauterine devices work?”

 

Moderator: “Don’t they work by preventing implantation of a fertilized egg?”  Allen: “Well, if the egg is not fertilized there is not conception.”   Fortunately for Allen, the conversation shifted to other subjects.

In February, the Virginia State Senate passed an informed consent law requiring that women seeking an abortion first undergo transvaginal ultrasound, a highly controversial procedure. The reaction in many quarters of Virginia and in the country at large was voiced in an editorial in the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot on Feb. 3:

Inserting something into the vagina of an unwilling woman is a violation in every sense of the word. But not to a majority of Virginia’s Senate.

“In a scarcely veiled effort to make abortion impossible,” the newspaper added, “21 senators used the power of government to do something grotesque.”

Kaine, a social and cultural liberal, who in almost all public polls has now taken a modest lead, has benefitted from the actions of the Republican majority in the both houses of the General Assembly. 

They are not the only Republicans unintentionally helping him. He has also profited from the behavior of Virginia’s Republican governor, Bob McDonnell — who was about to sign the transvaginal probe legislation into law when it blew up into a national issue — and the rulings of Kenneth Thomas “Ken” Cuccinelli II, the Republican state Attorney General. 

The Senate race here has become a testing ground for how far social conservatives can push their agenda — and continue to win elections — in a rapidly changing southern state with a burgeoning population of college-educated voters as well as many more ethnically diverse voters. The controversies in Virginia reflect the potentially explosive political consequences when the more abstract anti-abortion (and anti-gay marriage) provisions of the 2012 Republican Party platform are translated into concrete policies at the state and local level. While Republicans have been successful in recent years across the South, cultural and demographic trends here in Virginia suggest they may be pushing the outer limits.

There is a self-evident truth in contemporary politics: any constituency angered, threatened or fearful of the way the state exercises power is motivated to turn out to vote. The converse rule is: voter turnout declines among those groups whose goals and agendas are protected by those in power.  In Virginia, this means that social liberals are strongly motivated to go to the polls on Nov. 6 to express their opposition to policies supported by Republican state officials.

If Allen loses, it will be a national setback to the anti-tax wing of the Republican Party and a defeat for the Christian right. Both groups will be emboldened if he wins. In other words, the outcome of Kaine vs. Allen will reverberate far beyond Virginia’s borders.

I sincerely hope George Allen goes down to defeat.  He is precisely the type of unthinking puppet to the far right extremists that we do NOT need in the U.S. Senate.

RNC Delegate Offended By "Mexican" Employee At Disney’s Epcot Center

Click image to enlarge

The racism of today's Republican Party is becoming increasingly obvious despite attempts to do damage control when the true nastiness of party members and candidates is revealed.  A recent GOP convention related racism eruption involved Pennsylvania GOP convention delegate Mark Harris who visited Epcot Center during the convention.  While visiting the United States pavilion, Harris was incensed to find a "Mexican" working in the pavilion (see his blog screen shot above).  He felt that only "Americans" should be working at the the United States pavilion.  The incident underscores the sad fact that in the minds of far too many in today's GOP that if one isn't white, one isn't an American.  The irony, of course, is that Hispanics in parts of the United States are  descendants of those who were residents of those areas long before they were annexed to the United States - e.g., Texas, California, New Mexico, and Arizona - and long before Harris' ancestors arrived in America.  Think Progress has more and here are highlights:

During a trip to Epcot at Disneyworld, Pennsylvania delegate Mark Harris and his wife were shocked and offended to find a Mexican employee working at the amusement park’s American pavilion, which showcases the different cultures in the United States. According to the couple’s blog, Harris complained to staff that he was “highly offended” that a “person from Mexico” was working in the American pavilion when other nations’ pavilions were staffed by people from each respective country.

According to their website, “Mark and Irene are both pro‐life, believe marriage is between one man and one woman, are for open records and transparency, believe in very conservative principles and the Republican platform.”

The RNC has been marred by racist incidents this week; on Tuesday, two delegates had to be escorted out after throwing peanuts at a black camerawoman and called her an “animal.” Harris told the AP at the beginning of the convention that he liked how Romney was “hitting all the conservative bells” and “has the potential to be a great president if he keeps going in that direction.”

It would seem that Harris has been taking lessons from George "Macaca" Allen, the GOP candidate for U.S. Senator here in Virginia.  I was in law school with Mr. Allen and I'm supporting his opponent Tim Kaine - we need a grown up and non-bigot in the U.S. Senate.

George Allen’s Inconvenient Principles

I've known George Allen for a long time.  Since 1974 to be exact when we started law school together.  And it's this long term knowledge and familiarity with his time as one of Virginia's U.S. Senators that make me a committed supporter of George's opponent, Tim Kaine.  Don't get me wrong, George can be wonderful at a dinner party and can party with the best of the good old boys that he likes to mimic.  I'll even go so far as to admit that George is pretty smart.  The problem is that he's lazy and all to ready to do the bidding of others - especially ultra far right factions and Christianists.  Add to that a sense of entitlement that reminds me of that demonstrated by Mitt Romney.  The Washington Post has an editorial that takes on Allen for his new found love of secrecy in campaign funding sources.  One can only assume that George knows full well that if a campaign backer would be found objectionable by Virginia voters, there's no reason to hide their identity.  Here are excerpts from the column:

FOR YEARS, former Virginia senator George Allen said that political contributions should be based on the twin principles of freedom and disclosure — the freedom to give money without limits and full disclosure of those donations. He stressed that money should be given to, and spent by, candidates, not unaccountable outside groups.

Now Mr. Allen, running to regain his old Senate seat, is singing a different song on campaign finance. It can best be summarized as: Whatever!

In swapping principle for opportunism, Mr. Allen is marching in lock step with many fellow Republicans who are profiting politically from a tsunami of television advertising paid for by secretive outside groups. Since the GOP has been more effective than Democrats at raising money through these groups, Republicans such as Mr. Allen have ditched their insistence on disclosure and embraced an anything-goes approach.

The results are stark .   .   .   .   Much of it has been funneled through Crossroads Grassroots Political Strategies, a conservative group led by GOP strategist Karl Rove, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Together, those two groups have placed well over 6,000 television spots on Mr. Allen’s behalf, according to the Campaign Media Analysis Group, an independent monitoring outfit. The cost of those ads to date is variously estimated at $3.5 million to $7 million.

Mr. Allen has been silent in the face of blatantly inaccurate ads attacking Mr. Kaine. One, paid for by Crossroads GPS, claims that the bipartisan budget deal backed last year by Mr. Kaine (as well as the GOP leadership in Congress) would result in draconian defense cuts and job losses in Virginia. In fact, Mr. Kaine has urged Congress to strike an agreement that would avoid deep cuts.

Mr. Allen, tailoring his views to fit his circumstances, now says that keeping deep-pocketed donors’ names secret is all right since they might otherwise be subject to intimidation. Please. Since when have Americans ceased having the courage to stand up publicly for their convictions?

In March, Mr. Kaine proposed that both campaigns agree to limit the influence of secretive outside groups,  .   .   .   . Mr. Allen refused, calling the idea a “gimmick.” The real gimmick is Mr. Allen’s about-face on an issue where he once took a principled stand.

George "Macaca" Allen Trounces Kool-Aid Drinking Challengers in GOP Primary

I was pleased with the results of today's GOP primary for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Jim Webb.  And it's not because I'm a fan of my former law school classmate George Felix Allen - although believe it or not he was actually sort of cute many years ago in a bubba kind of way.  And it's not because I haven't known George for a long time - in fact, I met my former wife while in law school at a party co-hosted by Allen who was certainly living up to his party boy image (I'm sure the Christoifascists at The Family Foundation would have been shocked).   No, I'll be supporting his Democrat opponent Tim Kaine in the run up to the November election.

No, I'm please with the results because they are a powerful rebuke to the Kool-Aid drinking crazies who were his opponents: Tea Party nut job, Jamie Radtke, Slideshow "Sodomy is Not A Right" Del. Bob Marshall, and professional Christian and gay-hater E. J. Jackson.  That Bob Marshall couldn't even break the 10% mark demonstrates that outside of Marshall's home district (where his constituents must be drinking severely tainted water), he's too crazy even for today's theocratic and insane Virginia GOP.  As for Jackson, his candidacy was always a joke - apparently he still hasn't figured out that he's merely used as a prop to make the Virginia GOP and The Family Foundation look less white supremacist leaning than they are in fact.   Here's a vote tally with 88% of precincts reporting:

 Candidate                     Vote %

Allen  . . . . . . . . . . . 146,015   65%

Radtke . . . . . . . .. .   52,340    23%

Marshall . . . . . . . . . .15,115     7%

Jackson . . . . . . . . . . .10,783   5%

And Tim Kaine wasted no time in going on the offensive against Allen who rubber stamped every spending bill laid before him by Chimperator Bush and Emperor Palpatine Cheney and who voted for the Iraq War debacle.  Here are highlights from the Washington Post:

Kaine quickly made clear how he would attack Allen in their head-to-head matchup.  “Voters already had the chance to experience George Allen’s vision during his last term in the Senate, which turned record surpluses into massive deficits, added trillions to our debt, and put opportunity for a select few ahead of opportunity for all our businesses and families,” Kaine said in a statement Tuesday night. “George Allen’s approach helped create our economic mess; Virginians can’t afford six more years.”

For Allen, the race represents a chance at redemption after his dramatic reelection loss to Webb in 2006. Allen appeared to have that contest well in hand — and was already mulling a run for president in 2008 — when he referred to an Indian-American volunteer for the Webb campaign as “macaca,” an ethnic slur in some cultures.

For Kaine, the contest marks a return to state politics following a detour to serve as President Obama’s Democratic National Committee chairman. Rising from the Richmond City Council to become the city’s mayor, then lieutenant governor and governor, Kaine sought to craft a reputation as a moderate willing to work with both sides of the aisle, in the mold of his longtime friend, Sen. Mark Warner (D).

Neither Virginia nor America needs George Allen back in the U.S. Senate.  Hopefully a majority of Virginians will recognize this fact and keep Allen in retirement.

McCain, Macaca and Hope for America

Like many others, I have been increasingly appalled by the racism and anti-immigrant mind set which increasingly defines the Republican Party and the McCain/Palin Ticket. Palin's cries stirring up hatred at campaign rallies are disgusting and her endorsement of more anti-gay measures is merely icing on the cake. I sincerely hope that the American public will resoundingly reject this hate based vision of America. Frank Rich's column takes a look at this phenomenon and the way the GOP's intolerant message will hopeful backfire on November 4th. While Rich does not make the tie, what is of note is that the main players in formulating and furthering the GOP's toxic measure are the self-styled, falsely pious members of the Christian Right. Here are some highlights:

*

IT seems like a century ago now, but it was only in 2005 that a National Journal poll of Beltway insiders predicted that George Allen, then a popular Virginia senator, would be the next G.O.P. nominee for president. George who? Allen is now remembered, if at all, as a punch line. But any post-mortem of the Great Republican Collapse of 2008 must circle back to the not-so-funny thing that happened on his way to the White House.

*

Cut to 2008. You’d think that this incident would be a cautionary tale, but the McCain campaign instead embraced Allen as a role model, with Palin’s odes to “real” and “pro-America” America leading the charge. The farcical apotheosis of this strategy arrived last weekend, again on camera and again in Virginia, when a McCain adviser, Nancy Pfotenhauer, revived Allen’s original script, literally, during an interview on MSNBC. After dismissing the Northern Virginia suburbs, she asserted that the “real Virginia” — the part of the state “more Southern in nature” — will prove “very responsive” to the McCain message. All Pfotenhauer left out was “macaca.

*

There are at least two larger national lessons to be learned from what is likely to be the last gasp of Allen-McCain-Palin politics in 2008. The first, and easy one, is that Republican leaders have no idea what “real America” is. In the eight years since the first Bush-Cheney convention pledged inclusiveness and showcased Colin Powell as its opening-night speaker, the G.O.P. has terminally alienated black Americans (Powell himself now included), immigrant Americans (including the Hispanics who once gave Bush-Cheney as much as 44 percent of their votes) and the extended families of gay Americans (Palin has now revived a constitutional crusade against same-sex marriage). Subtract all those players from the actual America, and you don’t have enough of a bench to field a junior varsity volleyball team, let alone a serious campaign for the Electoral College.

*
But the other, less noticed lesson of the year has to do with the white people the McCain campaign has been pandering to. As we saw first in the Democratic primary results and see now in the widespread revulsion at the McCain-Palin tactics, white Americans are not remotely the bigots the G.O.P. would have us believe. Just because a campaign trades in racism doesn’t mean that the country is racist. It’s past time to come to the unfairly maligned white America’s defense.

*

[D]espite the months-long drumbeat of punditry to the contrary, there are not and have never been enough racists in 2008 to flip this election. In the latest New York Times/CBS News and Pew national polls, Obama is now pulling even with McCain among white men, a feat accomplished by no Democratic presidential candidate in three decades, Bill Clinton included. The latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey finds age doing more damage to McCain than race to Obama.

*

[The] conservative warriors of the Allen-McCain-Palin ilk . . . . see all Americans as only white or black, as either us or them. The dirty little secret of such divisive politicians has always been that their rage toward the Others is exceeded only by their cynical conviction that Real Americans are a benighted bunch of easily manipulated bigots. This seems to be the election year when voters in most of our myriad Americas are figuring that out.